Ski Area... "Closed"

Mount
Washington Alpine Resort finishes their ski operations in late April
but this has never deterred people from visiting the Resort
and nearby Strathcona Provincial Park during the so-called shoulder
season

Shawn
Quinton is a snowshoe guide and luge coach at Raven Lodge in the winter,
but doesn’t stop enjoying the Park once the final chairlift is
turned off for the season.

On a sunny
June weekend he brought his kids – Phillip, 5 and Sierra, 3 – for
an afternoon hike. “We’re just going to play in the snow,” he
said as he portaged his kids over the gravel-encrusted snow piles beside the
Raven Lodge parking lot to their sled a few metres away.

He brought
his own skis, just in case. And he says he’s familiar with the terrain
and its hidden springtime dangers.

This time
of year visitors to the Park want to watch out for snow bridges, made
when runoff melts the underside of a snow pile, leaving a weakened
bridge above with no sign of the danger below.

“People
can use the Park whenever tnhey want,” B.C. Parks spokesman Andy
Smith said. “What is restricting people right now is all the
facilities, campsites and bathrooms are buried in snow.”

The Park
becomes a safety hazard for about a month, as warm temperatures quickly
melt the snow. Crevasses form around the boardwalks snaking through Paradise
Meadows and they’re big enough to give people grief if they are unfortunate
enough to fall into one. “That’s the time of year we put a lot of
caution out there.”

Smith is
excited about how the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Centre and Paradise
Meadows Visitors Centre are progressing, saying it will affect how
people use the Park.

A proper
Visitors’ Centre will make Paradise Meadows an all-season place
to visit, and an interpretive program will help get the message out
about safe recreation.

In late June, when most of the snow in the lower
elevations is gone, it’s all right to hike without skis or snowshoes.
But it’s
best to be prepared to spend a night out in the weather, Quinton said.